Practical Aspects of Polymer Photodegradation

Abstract

Under natural (weathering) conditions several factors such as exposure to sunlight, day and night temperatures, seasonal variations, humidity and atmospheric contamination with highly corrosive agents in particular, are all important in the photodegradation of polymers and plastics. Other factors which may contribute to mechanical corrosion, e.g. gusts of wind loaded with dust and sand, impact of rain drops or of hail, freezing in winter, etc. may also be involved [176, 406, 609, 632, 637, 659, 809].